Mechanical rectifier



' Dec. 1I 1925.

W. R. HAMILTON MECHANICAL RECTIFIER Filed July 18, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 w. R. HAMILTON MECHANICAL RECTIFIER Filed July 18, 1923 2 sheets-sheer 2 lull l Pxa'tente'd Dec. l, 1925.

UNITED 'STA-Tas'. PATENroFFlci-. 'j

wmLIAx n. H'Amro'n, or I l'romanAL, eunnnc, cANAnA, VAsa'rerr'oia 'ro nommen. aan Alm emaux.4 oongA'NY Lnrrrnn, or Tononro, oN'rAaIo, CANADA, A

concurrenor oANADA..

' nenn un Appncau'on manif, unserm n. escasa.

To all 'whomjt may camera:

, Be ,it lknown that I,

TON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident ofthe city'of Montreal', in the Province of. -QuebemA and Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new vand useful Improvementsin Mechanical Rectili'ers,

, of which the followingfis al full, clear, and` exact description. d Y 1 Y This invention relates`r to mechanical rectiers and" the 'object ofthe inventionI is to'.

provide a simple, inexpensiveand eicient rectifier of the vibrating reed typeadapted to the charging of' from one to six cells of a storage battery. Another object is to provide a den'ce which cani be used to give a continuous iloatingcharge to storage batter` ies as used in signal and alarm apparatus. A still further object -is to provide va device which'` will voperate continuously with the (minimum amount of attention and o rate.

. for long periods without .the .necessity of changiig the adjustment. j

vicewhiclrwill give 'satisfactory results, ira res tive of suchvariations of frequencyan voltage 'as exist `on commercial A. C.l .powercircuits.. Inm invention, la small A. Cm trans-,

p former 1s used to reduce thjeA. C. line volts laigre to such value 'a swi1l ooilforml'tothe'- c argin'g r uirernents ,'in t e,- ad 2, attached to Athis specifica:v tion. The,` transformer'isshown ashaving, a ratio of -110 volts 15 volts, the primary Figures 1 an lminatedharmature fwhich is free to 'vibrate 'f2 tweent ees o a'. permanent. ma et. Thefpolesv ofv *iig permanent magnet obvigdlusly Vpresent"unlikefpoles tothe sides offthe 0. armature and they always vremain of the same polarity. The solenoid 'when energized b the 6. volt alternatingcurrcnt, alternate y reverses'the polarity 0f the armature in with alternating current;

. utilized..

' Fi -doub e s ring, double contact point andl mi'the 6 volt coilv energizesA a' solenoid' which surrounds' a This causes 4the 4armature-to "be alternately `attracted andrepelled by each pole of the permanent magnet, hence, during one half cycle, the armature will be'attracted by the north pole and re elled by the south pole, and during the other halfcycle the reverse action will take place. 'The armature carries av spring upon )which is mounted a' platinum contact point. This point each time the armature moves in one direction. When two springs and two adjustable points are'used, the armature will make contact with each adjustable point point is arranged to, make contact. with an adjustable alternately. In the diagram, Figure 1, the

transformer is shown with onesecondary lead connected to the armature and the adjustable screwconnected to' t e battery,

While the other seconda lead o \the transformer is`connected'to t e opposite pole of the battery. In this manner, only one half of the A. C. wave or cycle is allowed to ilow to the battery, whileif double contact arran ement is used, the battery is connected to t e armature and to the central point of a transformer secondary, givi double the required voltage. The ends o the double 'secondary are connected to two contact.

screws and both sides bf the C. wave are Fi re 1 is a 'agrammatic view of the rect er with one spring,one contact point and one adjusting screw.

Fi re '2.is a diagrammatic view ofthe recti er with one central spring, two contact points and twol ad'usting screws.

re'3 shows a rectllier armature of the double a ju'stmg screw construction.

Fi re 4 1s a view. of an armature forthel re'cti er, showing the construction of a cen-4 v tral spring, double contact point anddoubley adjusting `screw arrangement l i re 5 is a diagrammatic assembly drawing ings I1 designates a permanent ma et at'- tached to .a cast iron; yoke 12 wsch v1s d of g1@ Shiga @ma point, singles-.199' aV 'usting an singe sp t e. ci this) structure of fastened to a slate basevlA byA t`wo screws 1,4 and 15. The magnetic circuit 'of the p ermanent magnet is vclosed by`the yoke 12. Thecast iron yoke has a slot 16 milled out of it. A'solenoid 17 is attached to the slate base by a screw 18 and b the lug 19 under the cast iron yoke 12. T e solenoid 17 fills the gap between the cast iron yoke projections 20 and 21. An armature 22 is built up of the proper number of laminations 23 o transformer iron and one of hos hor bronze to give the necessar weig t or a given fre uenc These minations are eld toget er y the rivets 24. A steel spring `25 and a hosphor bronze sprin 26 t are attached to t e armature and are eld in place by two-screws and nuts 27. A contact point, or points, of platinum or carbon 28 are attached to the contact spring or springs 25. This assembled armature 22 is supported by the two piece bracket 29 and the adjusting bars 30 and 31. It will be noted 1n Figure 5 that the armature is clamped in the bracket 29 and asses through the solenoid 17 and throug the slot 16 Vin the cast iron yokell. The contact spring 25 extends beyond the cast iron yoke and the armature assembly is free to vibrate in the solenoid 17 and the slot 16. The movement of the armature is limited by the contact screw 32 which is held b a contact bracket 33. It will be noted t at some of the parts referred to are of peculiar ldesign and in order to complete the de- `rate and the ma netic circuit left open.

This particular evice will operate satisfactorll l if a square hole is cut in the cast iron yo e instead of the slot. In this lat` ter case theI yoke is closed both above and below the magnet. The armature is laminated to enable it to respond to the rapid reversals of current polarity which occur in A. C. circuits and which if a solid armature were used would tend to set u eddy currents, which would have the e ect of preventing the armature from following the A. C. current reversals promptly. In other words, this armature being laminated en'- ables it to keep in s alternating current. he phosphor4 bronze lamination on theone side is to maintain the magnetic balance ofthe armature by practically duplicating the effect of the contact spring on the `other side.` It will be noted that this armature when at rest is in a neutral field, that is it isv half way between the two les of the permanent-magnet and therel l1s therefore :no attraction or repulsion .effect when at rest. This allows of ,a of'tension to be maintained .25. T e clearance between these chronism with the on the moving element of this rectifier with the obvious result that a minimum of current is required to operate same. This while allowing an easy meansof adjustment.

The clamping nut on this bracket together with the two brass bars 30 and 31 take care.

of the armature adjustment.- By loosening the nut on the bracket 29 andby sliding the adjustingbars 30 and 31 backor forward, the tension of the steel spring 25 which acts as a hinge and tension for the armature may be varied and the periodicity of the-armature adjusted without altering the position of the contact points 28. The contact bracket 33 is designed to provide a long or the contact screw 32 e current from the spring oints, when the armature is at rest, is sma l, and the permanency of this adjustment is an important factor i-n the o eration of the clam in' bearin which icks up 51 rectifier. It will be seen t at this type ofbracket forms a rigid support, and gives an extremely satisfactory c amping arrangement for the/'contact screw. The solenoid 17 is madelup of a single brass punching to provide all the necessary lugs to support o the two fibre unchings which form the ends of the solenold and for fastening it to the base. This brass punching, with the bre ends in place, carries the winding used.to operate the device. This construction ensures a permanent opening for the armature to operate in, and one that, owing to its speclal construction, cannot be misplaced so as to interfere with the operation of the amature. When forming the punching into the square formupon which thewind- Ling is placed, an.l air gap is left along one corner to prevent any damping I action. The transformer 34 may be of any standard make of low voltage transformer, giving an output according to the work to be performed, and it may be arranged to give the actual secondary voltage required for any particular charging condition .within thel limits uph which the rectifier is designed to operate. If a higher secondary voltage isobtai'ned from lthe transformer than that which th'echarging conditixzv'pns call for, a

variable resistance may beconnected. in the circuit, .between the storage battery `and the rectifier. This resistance will enable the battery be charged at 4any pre-determined 1 30 lasagnes cuit.. The primary is connected to the 1l()- volt lighting circuit through the fuses 35 and 36. The solenoid is energized from the 6 volt winding of the transformer, thc circuit being from 34 tothe fixed' resistance 37 at 37* and `from 37b of fixed resistance to the solenoid 17@ and from the solenoidto the' transformer 34?. The fixed resistance 37 is connected inseries with the solenoid 17 and is adjusted to give the amount of current necessary to o erate the rectiier by synchronism with the alternating current at any given frequency. The circuit for the charglng current is froml thetransformer at 34 to fuse 38, thencel to the'negative pole of the battery, from the positive pole ofthe battery to the variable resistance the armature 22 to the-transformer at 34 -for a three cell battery or tov34= for a six cell battery.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

In. a device of the character described, the combination of a U-shaped permanent magnet with a cast iron yoke IWhich bridges the poles of said magnet, completely closing the magnetic circuit, said yoke being provided with a slot extending partially therethrough, a solenoid supported between the' legs of the magnet and an armature assing through the 'solenoid and through t e slot in the yoke.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set m hand.

y WILLIAM R. HAMILTON.

39, to the contact screw 32, thence from l 

